Enquesta d’opinió dels estudiants

You’ve learned to listen to yourself and be more attentive to other’s auric messages and the true meaning in their communi-cations. The next logical step is opening the door to more in-depth interactions and walking through! Work one-on-one with people to further develop your communication skills on all levels (physical, mental, and spiritual).

I’m a great advocate of taking small steps forward, and you’re less likely to put on airs with just one person than with a group (and vice versa). Experience has shown me that if you’re going to learn to talk effectively about spiritual matters, the greatest learn-ing experiences often happen on a one-to-one basis. It is for these very reasons that I’ve spent a little extra time and space on this subject here. If you can’t master interaction with one person, being successful with groups or covens is going to be really tough.

There are some rules of conversation to follow that will help tremendously. First, always maintain good eye contact. It shows interest and honesty. If you have trouble with direct eye contact, try looking just past the person to a point on the wall.

Second, don’t rush your words. Speak clearly, presenting your ideas in a manner that reflects thoughtfulness, enthusiasm, or whatever is appropriate. If you have a habit of tapping your fingers, jiggling your knee, or other nervous tendencies, be aware of and try to stop them. They’ll distract from your intention and make your companion aware of your tension or nervousness, which might be misconstrued.

Finally, share the conversation. Don’t domineer or be overly demure. Keep your spiritual ears open along with other intuitive senses. Speak with honesty, respect, and consideration, and your

discourse will show tremendous changes for the better, no matter the subject.

ACTIVITY: Musing Magickally

Get together with a friend who shares your interest in Wicca or magick. Sit together and pick a topic for discussion. Next, breathe in a slow, rhythmic manner that matches one another.

This helps get you in sync with each other’s energy levels and will mingle your auric spheres a bit.

Continue the rhythmic breathing for about five minutes before you start talking about the chosen topic. Most people find that they naturally know when to speak, when to listen, at least part of what their partner is going to say, and when to end the discussion. It flows from beginning to end. When you reach the point where the discussion has ended, ground yourselves out.

ACTIVITY: Combatting Busy Signals

This spell is specifically designed to open the lines of com-munication between yourself and another when you feel that something (or someone) hinders that discourse. It basically sends out a welcoming message. Whether or not this person is willing to answer the invitation remains up to him or her.

Begin with a length of string, perhaps yellow in color to augment the energy of communication, long enough so that paper and string can stretch across the table. You also need a yellow candle; a piece of paper about three square inches with the person’s name on it; and a blend of allspice, apple peel, clove, dandelion, and pine as incense. Just a pinch or two foster friend-ship, peace, kinfriend-ship, welcoming, and clearing, respectively. If you have another incense that represents these things to you, by all means use it!

Light the incense and the candle. Take the piece of paper with the name written on it and fold it in half three times. Wrap this with one end of the string, tying it with three knots. Put this

across the table from you and keep the other end of the string in your hand. The candle should be in the middle of the table.

Think about all the things you would say to this person if you could. Send that message out along the thread. As you do, slowly draw the bundle closer to you until it rests in your hand.

This symbolically closes the gap between you and that person.

Burn the paper with the incense to release your prayers and wishes to the four winds. Take the remnants and scatter them outside as part of the message spell so each breeze speaks of your hospitality.

An alternative approach to this spell is carrying the paper with you after it comes to rest in your hand. Each time you touch the paper, think about your message. Keep it with you until com-munications open again, and then burn it in thankfulness.

This activity is a great way to encourage a letter or phone call from a loved one who you haven’t heard from in a long time.

ACTIVITY: Motivating Positive Interactions

Communicating with people you don’t like is difficult, especially difficult if that person is in your coven, part of your department at work, or regularly part of your daily routine in some other way. But have you ever noticed that if you give people a gentle, nurturing, positive nudge or redirection, that person’s demeanor changes for the better, thereby improving your ability to communicate?

For this activity pick someone with whom you dread interacting. Find one characteristic of that person that you can appreciate—even if it’s only his or her taste in socks! Go out of your way to be cooperative, uplifting, considerate, and polite.

Give this activity a fair chance to work (at least a week). Nearly every time I’ve tried this, it manifests enough of a change to make the uncomfortable situation bearable.

People, when properly motivated and appreciated, can—and do—change if we give them a chance. This won’t work 100 percent

of the time, but building up others honestly and gently also bol-sters the positive energy in and around the places where you work, play, and live, benefiting everyone.

ACTIVITY: Extending a Magickal Touch

A lot of people, including myself, are hung up on touch.

They’re hesitant or uncomfortable about reaching out even with just a hand on someone’s shoulder. This likely stems from vari-ous sources: our puritanical heritage, our insecurities about our bodies, the fear of misunderstanding, and a concern about violating personal space. Be that as it may, science has shown us that touch is not only important to our communicative process, but also to our development as people. In turn, this would sug-gest it is also important to our development as Witches.

The gentle touch of a hand or a hug can often express what might take three hours to convey otherwise. In today’s world we’re all time-challenged. Breaching the touch barrier helps create “quality” where “quantity” might not be possible. How do you begin? Slowly.

Work with a friend or loved one where trust already exists.

Start embracing your friends when you greet them and when you say good-bye to them. Place a hand on someone’s arm when you’re talking about deeply important or personal matters. Your aura can communicate worlds of meaning through that touch.

You might also consider gentle shoulder massages as a way of getting past the touch barrier. Ask first, but almost everyone appreciates them—and you can talk while you work! I think you’ll find the conversation automatically becomes more relaxed and intimate because of that contact.

ACTIVITY: Controlling Your Aura

How often have you worked with a novice Witch who had little or no control over his or her personal energy? This activity is designed to help with that, and to continue to build your own

regulatory systems. Better still, the natural by-product of this exercise is a deepening awareness of another person’s auric enve-lope, which is always handy.

Start by sitting knee-to-knee with your partner. Place your hands palm down over your partner’s, whose are palm up. Your hands should have about a quarter-inch gap between them. Both of you should now focus all your attention and energy on your hands. Feel the heat being generated there. This is a physical mani-festation of two auras in such close proximity (actually overlap-ping at this moment). Visualize this heat as light shining from between the hands.

Slowly start moving your hands apart, but keep the energy constant. Always remain actively aware of your energy and that of your partner’s so the resulting bundle of energy stays uni-form. When your hands are about six inches apart, stop. You now have a good sized light-ball of auric energy between the two of you. When you get really good at this activity you can actu-ally play catch with this energy ball, or make two and let them break over one another to bathe your auras in trust. Alterna-tively, both partners can turn their hands downward to the Earth to ground the energy and bless the planet.